August 24, 2005
Technology in Focus features analysis of recent technology news articles, by the consultants in Technology Group, IDA. This is the top pick of the month from a list of 10-20 news analysis compiled monthly.
Sensor Nets for Vibration Monitoring, Intel Research, 26 Jul 05
by Lim Yew Gee, Senior Consultant, Technology Direction
The fifth infocomm technology roadmap has identified sentient technology as a key infocomm area that is critical for energising our future IT industry. Its benefits range from increasing work productivity, to improving individual quality of life, to even providing security for our nation. In the sentient technology, one of the feature areas is about sensor & sensor systems and sensor network. These technologies form the underlying platform for enabling smart application. Sensors are now being increasingly deployed for:
- Improving the quality control and productivity in industrial process (control and measurement), monitoring variables such as temperature, pressure, flow and chemical composition.
- Ensuring clean environment by monitoring the levels of toxic material and gases leakages into the environment.
- Enhancing health, safety and security in workplaces by monitoring key parameters such as fire alarm, smoke detection, gas, and surveillance equipment.
Tracking movement of goods in logistic and manufacturing, increasing efficiency and productivity.
Industrial Motor Condition-based Monitoring. According to DOE, it is estimated that motors consume about 63% of industrial electricity usage. In an effort to save power consumption for this industry, sensors are often used to monitor the efficiency of these motors. Some notable projects are already underway for R&D on saving on energy in industrial plant. For example, a $6 million program from US DOE with partners from sensor providers aims at integrating wireless sensor on motors to observe their performance and take action if there are abnormities. These remote monitoring will ensure motors are working at their optimum condition.
Wireless-based Industrial Automation. Particularly interesting to observe is an increasing trend in using wireless sensors for most of the above applications. Wireless technologies can be used as an overlay to the existing SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) management system to improve cost, scalability and time to deploy. Wireless sensor could potentially save massive cost in production floor to determine whether the machines and equipment are running optimally. These equipments health could instantly be monitored for early sign of failure and corrective action can then be taken to prevent sudden breakdowns. Having this intelligent to predict and pre-empt failure means saving on machine downtimes and money for manufacturers. As we know, equipment failures in production Fabs are very costly issues!
Market Statistics. According to a recent IDG research report, the wireless sensing technologies market is predicted to exceed $5 billion US by 2010 and impact a broad number of markets including industrial, medical, homeland security and others. Another report from VDC found that wireless mesh sensor networking is expected to make significant inroads in industrial monitoring and control applications. The report indicated that shipments of wireless products will grow from $6.1 million in 2004 to $25.1 million in 2007, at a compound annual growth rate of 60.2%. ZigBee-enabled products used in industrial monitoring and control applications accounted for only $0.5 million in 2004 and are expected to account for about $7 million in 2007.
Source: VDC
. In helping to implement wireless in field control and automation, ISA, the instrumentation, automation and systems society formed the ISA-SP 100 committee to create new standards and recommend practices for this industry. Another work that is underway is wireless HART (Highway Addressable Remote Transducer) for industrial control application. The working group plans to define specification for connecting HART devices in wireless environment. At IEEE, the developers of IEEEP1451.5 sensors and transducer standard are also trying to integrate transducer interface with wireless technologies. Other includes WINA, the wireless industrial network alliance that is promoting ZigBee as the technology of choice for industrial automation.
As in the above news, company such as Intel has also embarked on sensor projects, partnering with mote experts like Crossbow, Rockwell Automation and some on vibration software analysis providers. Their 200 over vibration sensors, also known as motes, are deployed on 40 machines at the Hillsboro Fab plant in the US. Initial result looks encouraging and Intel is planning to increase to 3000 machines in the future if project is successfully tested.
Conclusion. Manufacturing is one of the key pillars of Singapore's economic growth. Our manufacturing sector accounts for some 25 per cent of GDP. To maintain this figure in the future, our industrial and manufacturing sectors need to continue to adopt IT. The use of IT will ensure plants' operational costs are always kept low and productivity high to stay competitive. The adoption of sentient technology such as networked sensors for industrial monitoring and control is one way to meet these challenges.
Some words about the writer
Lim Yew Gee is a senior consultant with the Technology Group tasked with the responsibility of identifying strategic and emerging technologies in Singapore. He is currently researching on the next infocomm technology roadmap, specifically in creating an architectural framework on sentient (smart sensors) spaces.
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